Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

This Sunday I've been invited to join the MX5 (that's a Miata, for you guys in the US) Club for a motorkhana. So I'll be running around cones in first gear for most of the day! It'll be interesting to see how I fare against the newer cars. I'm horribly competitive, so you'll soon see me moping (if I do badly) or grinning (if I do well). One thing I'm pretty sure of, I'm likely to have one of the best *sounding* cars there!

Anyway, wish me luck, and I'll post a report here after Sunday.

Good luck. I'll bet you'll have the most fun also. I know I did.

I know that when the Dairyland Datsuns run with the M2SSCG (Madison 2 Seater Sports Car Group--mostly miatas with the odd audi or beemer or what not thrown in) the Miatas cannot keep up with Ken and I in our stock 1600s on the twisties when Ken leads.

So maybe you will do real well!

Good luck!!

tim

Run 2nd gear unless its stupid tight. You have enough power and torque to make it work. If you have really good tires, you should do pretty well. Race tires would be better, but a good set of street tires can hold their own.

Good luck,
Will

Best of luck and post lots of pictures! (Hopefully of a trophy, ribbon or badge of honor of some sort!)

Well, Sunday was great. The tests were all very tight - never left 1st gear. The little Datsun aquitted itself well: I left early, so didn't compete the last test, but up to that point, I was coming 6th out of forty or so competitors. I should have done better: on one test in particular I went the wrong way and suffered a +10sec penalty (on a ~30sec test!). The vast majority, of course, were MX5's, but there was an MGB (I caused a lot of laughter when I observed: "Look, it's a British Datsun!"), a couple of brand new BMW M3's and an Audi TT RS. My good friend, Colin, finished 5th in his NC (current) MX5.

The morning was very wet, and trying to circle around single cones led to a fair amount of understeer, which I endeavoured to counter by kicking the clutch from time to time. Later in the afternoon, the skid pan had dried out, and being smooth was the way to be quick.

If I could link to the video on youtube, a friend took some footage of me in the morning doing a wet slalom. All in all, I'm really happy with how the Datsun and I aquitted ourselves, and we certainly attracted a fair amount of interest, too. Thanks, guys for your support.

If a roadster teaches you nothing else, it will teach you how to be a smooth driver. Like you said, smooth is key. As far as the understeer goes, you might need a little more camber in the front end, or the tire pressures were off. Still, 6th place is a solid showing. Now you know where to work on things. I think with a little tweaking here and there you might find some more speed.

Will

Ha, well done I'd say!

great job!
Must be the VOLVO springs!
How did the TT RS sound? You guys always get the cool cars

Congrats, glad you had fun! I've done just one autocross in mine and have a lot to learn -- my first RWD car!

{This thread should go in the Racing sub-forum.}

Alvin, the TT RS is fantastic. And the thing that really stands out about it is its wonderful note. Growly and angry. The factory launch control is great to listen to, holding on a limiter at max torque (I suppose, it certainly wasn't very high up in the rev range) and then barking as it was let off the leash, so to speak. There's a number of criticisms often thrown at Audi performance cars - but one thing they definitely do right is their exhaust sounds! One of the best sounding cars on the day, after a Torana with a 355 Holden V8, and a certain Datsun with twin Solexes (though of course, I could be biased! ).

The Volvo springs (and everything else that was done at the time) certainly don't hurt!

Will, I think you're right about tyre pressures. I didn't change them for the event, just turned up and drove (33psi front, 32psi rear). That said, later in the day when it dried out, I had no problems with understeer. I do have the best road tyres I've ever owned, however: Dunlop SPZ1's. Simply outstanding grip in most conditions, but a wet skidpan is worse than most roads. Honestly, I think there's a lot more improvement to be done with the driver than with the car!

Some pics:









And to see how tight it was:

[youtube][/youtube]

Yeah, thats not exactly a large course. Have you seen my autoX roadster runs in the rain on youtube? I do think you might have done better in 2nd gear (less wheel spin).

Will

st3ph3nm wrote:Well, Sunday was great. The tests were all very tight - never left 1st gear. The little Datsun aquitted itself well: I left early, so didn't compete the last test, but up to that point, I was coming 6th out of forty or so competitors. I should have done better: on one test in particular I went the wrong way and suffered a +10sec penalty (on a ~30sec test!). The vast majority, of course, were MX5's, but there was an MGB (I caused a lot of laughter when I observed: "Look, it's a British Datsun!"), a couple of brand new BMW M3's and an Audi TT RS. My good friend, Colin, finished 5th in his NC (current) MX5.

The morning was very wet, and trying to circle around single cones led to a fair amount of understeer, which I endeavoured to counter by kicking the clutch from time to time. Later in the afternoon, the skid pan had dried out, and being smooth was the way to be quick.

If I could link to the video on youtube, a friend took some footage of me in the morning doing a wet slalom. All in all, I'm really happy with how the Datsun and I aquitted ourselves, and we certainly attracted a fair amount of interest, too. Thanks, guys for your support.

I am so stealing that "look it's British Datsun" quip! Thanks for the motivation as well!

motokhana, gymkhana for sure -- TIGHT -- that's no autocross course.